The original goals of community notification, as expressed in the state of Washington's legislation, were to prevent crime (letting community residents know that sex offenders lived in their neighborhoods) and to improve law enforcement (providing police with additional information to investigate sex offense cases).

Subsequently, as the concept of notification has gained acceptance, its usefulness for other purposes has been identified, including community education. These education efforts have focused on informing the public about sexual offending, the varying types of sexual offenders, and the role (and limits) of the criminal justice agencies that monitor and supervise sex offenders.